Poor interpersonal skills are the reason why there are so many hiring failures today! The #1 issue? They are uncoachable!
Why is being coachable important? It reflects the ability to accept and put in place feedback from bosses, team members, customers, and others! (Leadership IQ) Being coachable is why leaders and teams succeed in business!
Here’s are shocking stats:
- Almost half of new employees today will fail within 18 months of hire.
- Almost 90% of the time it’s due to the new hires’ attitudes and poor interpersonal skills.
- Only 11% of failures are due to technical skills. (Leadership IQ)
Many hiring managers admit overlooking or explaining away flaws they saw during interviews. But they were unsure what to do with these insights or biases because they failed to use real consistent data that job fit assessments offer. They hired the job candidates based on technical and other hard skills, but fired them due to poor interpersonal skills!
To improve your hiring and selection process, it starts during the interview by making this important time count!
7 Keys to Improve Your Hiring Success
1. Job Fit Is #1. According to a Harvard Business Review study, job fit is why people succeed! Use a qualified job fit assessment to ensure you’re seeing the whole person objectively. When using real and consistent data, you can delve deeper and learn more about the person before hiring them! This avoids surprises!
2. Determine Coachability by Asking These Two Interview Questions. A coachable person is looking to improve and is willing to ask for help to do so.
Ask: “When was the last time you made a mistake?” and “How did you handle it?”
Then, listen for:
- “What did s/he learn?”
- “Who did s/he talk with?”
- “Why did the mistake happen?”
- “What were the results?”
This is perhaps the most important revealing part of the interview.
3. Gain Insight During Reference Checks with Previous Co-Workers. Ask this question: “Would you work for this person? Why?” Listen. I’ve found this question to be a very good indicator of a person’s on-the-job interpersonal skills.
4. Talk Straight. Share with the job candidate about your company’s ongoing training and development programs. During each interview, emphasize your expectation that the person participates. If there is any pushback (e.g., “What if I already…?” “I already know that.”), you may need to reconsider hiring this candidate since you are looking for team players that are open to learning and expanding all their job skills.
5. Focus on Results Required for the Position. Put together a 180-Day Success Plan. Share it during each interview with the job candidate and listen. The person’s reactions may change over time, so it’s important to address any change. Remember, you are seeking team players with the attitude of, “I’m open to learning from my mistakes and contributing to the success of everyone.”
6. Provide a Coach and a Mentor. Provide teams and future leaders in your company with an internal company mentor and an external executive coach. One fast-growing company shared this expectation with job candidates. Those that didn’t believe they would need a coach were not considered further. Several years later, the coachable team members achieved executive and leadership levels in their careers. It was due to their focus on coaching, developing, and learning.
7. Be Coachable! Yes, many successful leaders have coaches. Be sure you have one and be sure you are learning how to be a good coach, while developing and learning along with the team. Believe it or not, it can be a lot of fun!
©Jeannette Seibly 2021 All Rights Reserved
Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker for over 28 years. Her focus is getting leaders and their teams unstuck and able to achieve dynamic results. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.
A note from Jeannette about how to hire coachable people. We’re in a talent tsunami, where 20% to 50% of employees are seeking new jobs. One of the top reasons is they are uncoachable in their current job and believe the grass will be greener in other companies. It’s up to you to use real and consistent data to make good hiring decisions and uncover a job candidate’s coachability before you hire them. This impacts your ability to attract and keep top talent and great customers, while improving your bottom line. Unsure of how to get started? Contact me for a confidential conversation.